7 Skills You Should Look for in Your Remote Team Member

A remote team member is a professional who can bring several advantages to your business. That’s the reason why most big businesses are relying on remote teams today. 

A survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management ( SHRM) in 2019 revealed that;

“82% of companies with virtual teams are growing, 15% have stagnated, and only 3% are downsizing” What does this depicts?  I think this suggests that there is immense growth potential in your business if you can rightly build a remote team. 

It is obvious that if you have competent remote workers, they can relieve workload that weighs so heavily on you and even can help you shift your focus from routine tasks to developing action plans for your business growth. I have seen so many practical examples of this. Businessmen who turned highly productive after having a right team in place and majority of them are remote workers.

Although remote team members are valuable assets for your company, finding ideal remote team members is a bit challenging, since it requires analyzing your needs and what skills and personality attributes make them a good fit for your company.

What to Look For in a Virtual Team Member?

Want to know what skills and attributes you need to consider when bringing in virtual team members? You are in the right place then! 

Keep reading!

Have a look at these statistics presented by CultureWizard in 2018 first:

“Good virtual teammates have the following traits: share information (19%), collaborative (18%), proactively engaged (17%), and organized (14%)”.

But there is a lot more than this. Such as:

1. Communication is the Key

This is important for two reasons;

• Firstly, in terms of their ability to share their views and ask questions to understand the nature of their work. A new team member who is more inquisitive and confident in communication is more likely to understand his job and company culture at a fast pace.
• Secondly, being good at communication also means being able to promptly respond to the team or client’s inquiries, messages, and emails. 

2. Ability to Stay Focused

This is synonymous to hiring a self-motivated person, the one who can work independently without needing a consistent eye to deliver the result. 

This quality is also important because when your employees work from home, they have a lot of distractions around. If they are unable to handle the distraction and pay attention to their work goals, it won’t work for you for long.

3. Master of their skill

You are probably considering hiring a remote team member because it is a cost-effective option. But even if you are saving dollars, never think of compromising on the level of skill that you need. Ultimately, you want to grow your business, and only with a high-performing and skillful team member will you be able to achieve those goals. There is no dearth of skillful individuals who would love to work with what you offer. You need to find the right way to find and onboard an RTM.

4. Ability to handle pressure

There are moments of tension and heavy workload in every company. Some days teams may have to deliver more reports, finish multiple processes and manage more calls. Therefore, it’s important to find someone who can work under pressure. Anyone who gets demotivated or starts making mistakes when there is a lot to handle is not a perfect fit for a remote job.

Work pressure can also come in the form of criticism. If your team member is unable to take criticism or feedback constructively, you may face a rapid turnover. That’s why it’s important to make the right decision in the first place.

5. Ability to learn and handle digital tools

In a digital business world and in particular, in remote work settings, making use of digital tools has become indispensable. Be it using your company-specific software, or collaborating with teams through various tools, your virtual team members have to use many tools. Make sure they already know or at least have the willingness to learn these tools.

6. Highly organized

Remote team members may have flexible work schedules. Sometimes, companies allow them to work any hours throughout the day.  All they need is to meet the deadlines and ensure the deliverables are ready. That’s why make sure you are hiring a highly organized person who knows how to prioritize tasks and manage time to accomplish their goals.

7. Value Experience

It is said that “ hire the attitude and you can train the rest” …

But what if you don’t have a strong system of internal training or you don’t have the resources to train for months and months ? In this case, make sure you hire someone who has at least some years of experience in your industry.

For example, if you are running a property management company, find someone who knows about the industry or nature of work. If it seems difficult to find someone from your industry who also has these skills mentioned above, you can use the services of experts to find you a perfect virtual assistant.

Conclusion

Summing up, having a remote in your business is a great way to achieve the best results as it ensures access to pools of skilled professionals at a reduced cost. You can hire a remote team worker to handle any work dimension but make sure you consider the above-mentioned seven points to fit a highly productive individual for your business.

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